2021 Kia K5 Power Train

The contact owns a 2021 Kia K5. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving approximately 15-20 MPH, the engine revved and the gears in the transmission unexpectedly failed. In addition, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. Due to the safety concerns, the vehicle was no longer driven and remained parked at the residence. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

The contact owns a 2021 Kia K5. The contact stated while driving approximately 30-40 MPH, while the transmission was shifting gear, the vehicle started sputtering and jerking. The contact stated that the failure occurred while shifting from 1st gear to 2nd gear, and from 2nd gear to 3rd gear. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle with an erratic gear shift with a grinding sound coming from the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.

very bad antifreeze smell under hood dealer said normal not healthy to smell that its in all of this model car in multiple years needs a recall to force kia to fix this unhealthy problem. 3/1/25 is when i bought this car. thankyou

Very bad transmission slip during acceleration from stop and at highway speed

My vehicle has been experiencing shifting delays when accelerating. Often times when I stop accelerating my vehicle has a delay and remains revved up for a few seconds before the RPM's go back down. The sluggish/delayed acceleration presents a safety issue when the vehicle is not operating as it should. This issue has been occurring for about 6 months. I informed the dealership where I purchased the vehicle and have the routine maintenance done and they say there are no issues reported about the issues I have been having. I addressed the issue again over the weekend when I had my oil change and tire rotation on April 1, 2023 and I have been told the same thing that there are no issues reported. But the dealership fails to report the issue I had addressed the first time.

This report is being filed as a duplicate to 11488885, as this issue occurred twice. Please see 11488885 for details, as issue was exactly the same. I have attached the dealership repair invoices for both incidents as I forgot to do so in 11488885.

1. Car has completely lost power during normal driving. Transmission failure. Loss of Motive power. It is available for inspection upon request 2. Car lost all motive power while on the highway, car had to coast to a stop. This was very dangerous. 3. Car was taken to the Kia dealership, diagnosed by their techs, and transmission replaced. This has occurred two times since the car was purchased new. First at 4,600 miles (6/13/2021) , second at 16,600 miles (9/7/2022). Both times dealership replaced the transmission 4. Both times this occurred the check engine light illuminated and a warning to pull over immediately. There were no prior symptoms when this occurred. The failures happen suddenly. There is apparently already a recall for this issue for the Hyundai vehicles that have this very same engine/DCT combination. Recall #236. This same issue is also occurring on the 2021+ Kia Sorento and 2021+ K5 GT 2.5L

TRANSMISSION REQUIRES TOTAL REPLACEMENT WITHIN 5 DAYS OF PURCHASE OF NEW CAR. VEHICLE WAS PARKED WHEN TRANSMISSION FLUID LEAK WAS DISCOVERED. IT WAS DRIVEN BACK TO THE DEALER, WHICH IS NEARBY, BUT THIS EXPERIENCE HAS SHAKEN OUR FAITH IN THE SAFETY AND BUILD QUALITY OF THIS 2021 KIA K5 GT-LINE.